


Dotting The Dragon's Eye

by kaizuka



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dragon AU, Dragon Racing AU, Inspired by The Scorpio Races, M/M, Racing AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-07 10:33:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15906516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaizuka/pseuds/kaizuka
Summary: The first of the chilling winds are an important signal to all of the island's inhabitants: the Draconian Flights are here.Every year, people flock to the island, eager to catch sight of riders and their dragon companions. The Flights are infamous for their savagery, the scaled beasts well known for devolving into bouts of aerial clashes filled with teeth and claws. Death is not an unfamiliar partner to these races.Keith's only concerns have ever been his dragon, the races, and Altea: a dragon sanctuary that is home to him, his found family, and a considerable number of dragons. But when Shiro, having been drawn to the island for years on end, decides to plant roots and find a home in Altea as well, both men realize there is much more to the 'dragon island' than meets the eye.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very, very self-indulgent fic inspired by both How to Train Your Dragon and Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races--only this one isn't about water horses, of course. The title is also taken from Hanneke Cassel's (a musician recc'd by Maggie) Dot the Dragon's Eyes.  
> I have many of the beginning chapters written, so it's just a matter of looking them over one last time and fixing any minor details!

Keith shifted on his rocky perch, his position growing close to unbearable amounts of discomfort from the hours he’d spent on the side of the mountain, sitting and staring out into the sea. A distant roar rumbled through the clouds, and his gaze flitted from the roiling blue ocean to the skies above. 

The days after the races were always the worst. Watching people from the mainland leave by the boatful and taking the liveliness of the races with them should be, in Keith’s opinion, a blessing to be welcomed, but… he scowled. The quiet of the island only served as yet another reminder of what he had lost.

A mother, gone to the mainland in an attempt to sustain a way of life for her and her son, and a father, gone to the maws of a dragon after a rescue gone awry. 

The sound of stone crumbling echoed behind him, and Keith turned halfheartedly, mind still on his mother. Krolia had left the tiny island not long after the passing of her husband, determined to find a way to support both herself and her son. After his father had died, Keith’s mother had been unwilling to spend even a single moment in the presence of who she deemed to be her husband’s murderers, and had prompted Keith to join her for his own safety.

Something growled, and Keith’s heart leaped reflexively at the noise. Twisting around, Keith found himself eye to eye with a great, hulking, reptilian beast, its scales dark enough to almost be mistaken as part of the rocky mountainside. Its eyes narrowed into tiny yellow slits as it regarded Keith, and he felt his hair ruffle in the wake of the dragon’s breath, the subtle scent of sulfur filling the crisp air.

Wordlessly, Keith turned away again until his back was completely to the creature, exposed and vulnerable to attack. Almost thoughtlessly, Keith stuck his hand out into the space next to him, waiting patiently until he felt the smooth press of scales against his palm. The dragon exhaled again, sounding distinctly annoyed.

Krolia had refused to stay on the island because of what the dragons reminded her of. Keith had begged and pleaded to stay because of what he was afraid he would forget.

_They’re ornery and vicious,_ Keith recalled his father saying, _until you learn how to get on their good side. A little bit of understanding goes a long way, Keith._

He’d understood the dragons well enough, but in the end, one slip up was all it had taken for Keith’s father to disappear from the Earth for good.

Keith’s mother had been unwilling to leave him, but Krolia was a good mother. She may not have trusted the island’s beasts, but she had faith in her son. 

Keith pressed his face into the dragon’s neck, letting the warmth emanating from its scales chase away the chill on his face. The races were always held nearer to the end of fall, just when the island had begun to freeze over in order to combat the amount of heat generated by its more scalier inhabitants. During the races themselves, it wasn’t unlikely that an audience member would have to shed an outer layer of winter clothing or two. Needless to say for the racers themselves, the sky was quick to become a sauna. As of the moment though, no races were being held, the air was chilled and unforgiving, and Keith was quickly regretting his decision to park his ass on a mountainside overlooking the gray, roiling ocean. 

The dragon twisted in Keith’s grip, shaking off his hands in favor of glowering down at him irritably. Despite himself, Keith felt the corner of his mouth twitch upwards in response.

“Cold, Red?” he asked, lightly scratching the dragon’s chin. “Good boy, for staying so close all this time.”

Red rumbled in response and let his head fall back into Keith’s hands, cheerfully succumbing to another round of petting. 

People who didn’t live on the island would have argued that the dragons didn’t have a lick of feeling or emotion; that attempting to establish a bond with the beasts was impossible. Obviously, Keith believed otherwise. After all, non-islanders were the ones who treated the dragons like a novelty, only migrating to the island to enjoy the spectacle of races they would never participate in themselves. For Keith and the locals, cohabiting with the dragons was simply a way of life. 

However, it also meant that the mainlanders often found themselves in less than desirable situations as a result of ignorance or over curiosity. A chorus of yells cut across the chilly air, and Red wrenched his head away from Keith’s hands, eyes slitting warily as he glared out across the ocean. The people were nearly specks from where Keith was sitting, but he could just make out wild splashing to the left of one of the ferries leaving for the mainland, and more than a dozen little heads peering over the railings. Even more clear to Keith was the disruption in the ocean not far off from the ferry, a white frothing of water that was quickly making a beeline for the overboard tourist. 

Keith clicked his tongue, and Red immediately crouched down, wings spread. Keith leaped on, and his dragon took off not a moment later, wings shooting them upwards into the gloom of the afternoon sky. 

Keith didn’t choose to sit on the mountainside just to watch the ferries leave. As interesting as it was to watch all the rich island visitors lug their stuff onto the boats (it really wasn’t), Keith was all too aware of the risks many of the island’s more wild inhabitants presented. 

Case in point; the island’s oceans were home to many aquatic type dragons who were intelligent enough to know when unsuspecting travelers entered their waters. Occasions like these were common during the comings and goings of the mainlanders, and while Keith found it funny to watch them squirm, he’d always figured it wouldn’t do the island much good if its dragons gave a real reason to scare away the mainlanders and their heavy pockets for good.

Keith leaned back as Red careened down towards the ferry, tilting back far enough that he nearly felt as if he were falling vertically. His eyes stung from the screaming wind, and he relished in its cold bite against his cheeks. Red was quick to level off, and Keith loosened his hands from their death grip on the dragon’s spines. 

Red coasted closer, giving Keith a clearer view of the overboard mainlander, and he gave a wince. A man with a shock of white hair paddled in jerky, aborted motions back towards the ferry, doing his best to catch up to the life preserver that had been thrown over for him. It was the blood freely flowing from the gash on his face that had Keith urging Red onwards a little faster, worried about all the other beasts that the smell blood would attract. 

A distance away, the frothing water had stilled upon Red’s arrival, and Keith kept one eye warily on the bubbles rising to the surface as Red splashed down as gently as he could next to the struggling mainlander. The chill of the water was instant, sticking Keith’s clothes to his skin as Red’s torso was submerged. Instantly, the mainlander struck out blindly, eyes shut against the stinging salt water and flecks of blood. Keith admired his gusto, eyeing the man carefully until his swinging arm was close enough to catch. 

Keith yelped as he was nearly upended from the tourist’s strength, finding it a lot more difficult than expected. He’d thought the man would be weakened enough for Keith to pull him onto Red’s back, but that obviously wasn’t the case. Keith frowned. With the mainlander lashing out like this, having Keith or Red grab him could end up in serious injury towards both parties.

“Hey. Hey!” Keith yelled over the tourist’s snarling and splashing. “I’m trying to help you!”

The man froze, letting himself hang from Keith’s grip as if finally realizing he _hadn’t_ been attacked by one of the island’s many sea monsters. Despite himself, Keith raised a hand to wipe away at the salt water and blood covering the man’s eyes, rubbing gently until the mainlander blinked them open, looking dazed. 

Keith blinked back. _Nice eyes,_ he couldn’t help but think.

“You--”

Whatever the mainlander was going to say was cut off by a large splash of water, sounding much closer than it had been before. Keith let out a curse and yanked the man onto Red’s back. The latter let out a startled huff as he all but belly flopped onto the space in front of Keith, who called out an instruction to his dragon.

Keith nearly gasped aloud when he realized the man only had a single arm. With the gash on his face and only one arm to swim with, it was no wonder he’d had so much trouble getting back to the ferry. For a split, terrifying second, Keith thought that he had been too late; that the sea dragon had been closer than he’d first thought, and bitten the tourist’s arm clean through. A closer inspection made Keith realize that it was a wound long healed over, and Keith placed a hand on the man’s shoulder, a sickly feeling of relief quieting the pounding of his heart.

Red roared out a warning to whatever sea creature was edging towards them as he pumped his wings violently, and Keith noted worriedly that the small dragon’s stature might not be enough to carry two grown men airborne. Still, Red wobbled into the air, his movements much slower than he would have been with Keith riding alone. 

Normally, Keith’s self-appointed “job” dealt with chasing away the sea dragons from the ferries, and on occasion, lifting an over curious child quickly from the water. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had to rescue a fully grown man from the ocean. And the gash on his face…

Red landed with a heavy thud onto the ferry, causing it to rock wildly. The dragon swung its head around, giving Keith’s face an apologetic huff. The mainlanders around them tittered wildly, terrified at coming near despite the white haired man bleeding profusely from an obvious wound on his face, and Keith scowled as he lifted the mainlander upright. 

The white haired man’s chest was muscled where Keith’s hand pressed against the thin material of his long sleeved shirt, and Keith swallowed, feeling distinctly unsettled. Seeing the mainlander outside of the water made Keith realize that the man was still young, despite the coloring of his hair. 

Keith’s jacket and shirt were both sopping wet, but he removed his outer layer anyway, bunching it up and prompting the man to press the cloth to his face. The man still looked dazed, and accepted the jacket without another moment’s thought. 

“Takashi!” 

A brown haired man stumbled from the ranks of gawking bystanders, and Keith silently allowed the white haired man--Takashi?--to be slid out and away from his grasp.

Takashi slumped over in the brown haired man’s arms, and the way the latter looked at Takashi, a mixture of anger, worry, and relief plain on his face, had Keith backing up both emotionally and physically. 

“Thanks,” Takashi slurred, fixing an unfocused gaze on Keith. “I was looking over the railing one second, and in the next something got me straight across the face.”

“It’s rare, but they do that sometimes,” Keith said, glancing away. “I’m glad you didn’t get… too badly hurt,” he finished lamely, turning back to eye the _very bad_ cut across Shiro’s nose. “Um.”

“Are you blind?” the brown haired man cut in tightly, eyes narrowed behind his glasses. “Look at your nose. This is why I said you shouldn’t come here another year, Takashi.”

“This is a rare occurrence. It could have happened to _anyone_.”

“Yes, but it happened to _you!_ And this isn’t the first--”

““Well…!” Keith cut in, and leaned back a little further, unable stop himself from glancing between the two men. They had fallen silent, one watching him warily, the other with an interest made bleary from pain. “Take care on your way home. Try to stay away from the railings until you’re away from here. Sometimes they get spooked, and they do _that_.” Keith waved vaguely in the direction of Shiro’s face. Internally, Keith was berating himself a mile a minute. He wasn’t the best speaker, but surely he could have done better than whatever _that_ was.

“Wait!” Takashi raised his hand in a ‘stop’ motion, and Keith paused atop Red’s back. The dragon harrumphed irritably, making his displeasure at _still_ being soaked and not in the air very clear. Takashi’s… friend eyed the dragon mistrustingly behind his glasses, and Keith felt himself bristle a little. 

“Thank you for saving me,” Takashi continued, still blinking bearily, like he couldn’t focus on Keith. (Concussion? Keith hoped the dazedness was momentary.) “I’m Shiro. What’s your name?”

Was it ‘Shiro’ or ‘Takashi’? Keith twisted in his seat. “Um--”

Red must have taken the uncomfortable press of Keith’s heels at his sides as the signal to take off, because the dragon unfurled its wings immediately, a huff leaving his maw as he shot upwards without another moment’s notice. Keith was left wildly jarred, his jaw clicking shut almost painfully as they took to the air, leaving behind Shiro’s bewildered (and bloody) looking expression until his and his partner’s faces were nothing but specks on a rocking ferry. 

Keith cursed himself, before soundly cursing his dragon. (Red bucked a little at that, and Keith quickly switched to a profuse apology.)

Shiro… Keith glanced almost wistfully backwards, but the ferry was nothing but a dot in the ocean’s surface. Remembering Shiro’s vigor at fighting back against the tumultuous waves and unseen sea dragon left Keith wanting to know more about the man. 

_He’s got spirit,_ Keith thought, eyes aimlessly tracking the clouds they passed. _I bet he’d make a great dragon rider._ Keith sighed at the realization that the brown haired man was unlikely to let Shiro return to the island after what had happened. 

“Whatever,” Keith said aloud, leaning forward to bump his forehead against the back of one of Red’s spines. “It’s not like we’d ever cross paths again anyway, right?”

Red only huffed in response.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The brown haired man _is_ Adam, but I wanted to clarify just in case anyone thought he might have come off too rude or too strong, because that wasn't my intention: I feel like his reaction is only natural, out of concern for someone he cares about, and exasperation over a well-worn topic argued time and time again. Also though he's not tagged because he appears only in mentions throughout the rest of the fic.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the only other fully edited chapter (at least, I hope, but excuse me if I've missed anything on accident) for now, as I'm working on refining the other few beginning chapters!

**One Year Later**

Shiro jerked awake, eyes blinking against the harsh sunlight streaming through the ferry boats windows. The jaw rattling thud of the boat docking was what had woken him, he realized, and Shiro clutched his suitcase to his chest as he blinked away the last sticky dregs of sleep away. Already people were beginning to stand, legs made wobbly from the long voyage and the rocking of the sea. Shiro was no better, and he braced his shoulder against the walls of the ferry as he made his way towards the gangplank. 

One of the crew members began to hover over Shiro worriedly as soon as they saw him, hands raised as if to catch him at any moment. Shiro only shook his head with a polite smile, raising his hand and waving the suitcase cheerily as if to say ‘I’m alright!’ as he leapt cleanly off the walkway and onto the dock. 

A young girl that Shiro had already noticed staring at him throughout the ferry ride stood nearby with her mother, hands buried in the woman’s skirt. The second her mouth opened, Shiro was already forming an answer in his mind.

“How’d you lose your arm?” the girl asked, and Shiro had to prevent his mouth from echoing the words right alongside her. It was like wrote with kids around her age, and like the many times before, Shiro found that he never really minded. They were usually just curious. After getting a simple answer, they were likely to accept it as truth, and move on after the novelty of it all had worn off. Shiro wished he could have said the same for many adults.

“Did a dragon eat it?” the girl continued in hushed tones, and her mother wheeled on her, stricken.

“Elle!” the girl’s mother scolded. “Sir, I am so sorry--”

Shiro had gone silent. The girl’s inquiry had hit close to the truth (if not completely spot on), and while he was still unbothered, Shiro felt himself having to readjust to his surroundings. He was on the ‘Dragon Island’ again. The follow up question was also pretty standard throughout many of his visits here. Shiro smiled, setting his suitcase down to pat gently at his opposite shoulder.

“I gave my arm to save a kind dragon’s life,” Shiro said. Whatever false story his mind had concocted had been shoved to the side in favor of tipping as close to the truth as was possible. “He didn’t eat it, so don’t worry. It was an accident, but now he’s happy and alive, and so am I!”

The girl’s mouth was set in a tiny, perplexed ‘o’, and Shiro winced when he glanced back at her mother. The woman’s face held an expression of distaste, most likely at the idea that the words ‘kind’ and ‘dragon’ could go together at all. With a click of her tongue, she tugged her daughter away from the odd, white haired, one-armed man who spouted insanities about kind hearted dragons. 

“If your father didn’t have to deal with sponsorships with these races, we’d never be dealing with these loons on this godforsaken island,” Shiro heard the mother mutter tersely, almost as if to herself. Still, he caught the little girl waving back at him cheerfully, which he returned with a small smile. 

“Now…” Shiro hefted his suitcase back into his hand. “Time for me to find out where home is on this ‘godforsaken island’.”

 

\---

 

‘Home’, as it turned out, was a hostel-type homestead that stood three stories high. Its door was affixed with what must have once been a cheerily painted ‘welcome’ sign that had been battered against by wind and rain for years, leaving behind the smeared remains of the word ‘lome’ against decaying wood. Underneath, someone had scribbled _‘short for: Lance’s Home’._ And underneath _that_ , someone had written in neater letters _‘you wish’._

“Hm. Quaint,” Shiro said cheerfully, pushing the door inwards. It creaked loudly as it swung backwards, and Shiro flinched when it broke off of one of its hinges, careening back against the wall before sliding thunderously to the floor.

Oops.

“Lance!” someone yelled, “I thought I told you? Don’t open it all the way back or else it breaks! Hunk and I haven’t gotten around to fixing it yet!”

A very small someone careened around the corner, a pencil affixed in a wild tumble of hair, glasses askew. In her arms was a veritable mountain of papers, some of which slid off the top of the pile and behind her in a very Hansel and Gretel type of way. Shiro hoped none of them were particularly important, especially when the girl stepped back in surprise at the sight of him, effectively crunching a good amount of the paper trail underneath a bare foot.

“Oh,” she said. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you. I promise this house is usually in better shape, we just hadn’t gotten to fixing it up yet before you got here. You’re the new guy, right?”

“I am,” Shiro replied, already ready to accept the house in any state it was in. Anyway, what choice did he have? He could at the very least make the most of it all. “I could take a look at fixing it myself, I don’t mind.”

The girl blinked. “Wow. Muscles of steel _and_ a heart of gold, huh? You’re going to need to be careful on this island with all the husband-starved girls--myself excluded, of course. I’m betting on it.”

Shiro opened his mouth. Closed it. “Er--”

“Hunk! _Lance!_ The new guy is here!”

Something clattered in what might have been the kitchen, and a man stepped around the doorway, a pie held aloft in the air. Shiro would have denied it if someone had asked, but he swore he swooned a little at the smell of it. 

“Welcome! I’m Hunk.” The man stretched his free hand out, before giving the faintest of glances towards Shiro’s shoulder. Quick as lightning, Hunk hefted the pie to his other hand, resuming his handshake offering like nothing had happened. “I’m a local mechanic, and apparently this home’s cook. Not that I mind. It’s so cool to have a new face around here.”

“Mechanic and a cook? That’s a pretty incredible combination,” Shiro said, amicably taking Hunk’s hand in a firm grip.

“Sure, until you find a screwdriver in the cheesecake,” the girl sniffed.

“It was _one time_.”

“I’m Katie. But my friends call me Pidge, and since you’re going to be living with us, you can call me that too,” she continued cheerfully, taking Shiro’s hand next. 

“The whole island calls her that, so it’s kind of a moot point.” A new voice floated down the stairwell, soon accompanied by a man with close cropped brown hair. The other thing Shiro noticed was the blue and white dragon whelp nestled in his arms. 

Shiro stepped forward almost unconsciously, mouth agape. “Wow… I’ve never seen them so small!”

“You like her?” The brown haired man sounded pleased. “She’s Cordelia, and I’m Lance. She was recently hatched from one of the orphaned eggs we raise here. You’d see a few more in the back if you went out that way.”

“If this place seems shabby, it’s only cause we prioritize whatever dragons we have at the time,” Hunk pitched in, reaching over to scratch Cordelia’s chin. The whelp gave a tiny hum, her eyes sliding from Shiro to Hunk, then closed again. “Sometimes I want to stay in their stables more than I do in my room. They get pretty warm, especially in the winter. It’s kind of nice.”

“This one is specifically mine and _Allura’s_ ,” Lance added proudly. “She took a liking to her, but thought Cordelia should be mine since I found her abandoned egg. But then I said, ‘why don’t we both raise her?’ And she agreed!” He beamed at that. 

“Allura?” Shiro asked.

“She’s basically the head of the household,” Pidge said, dropping the papers in her hands unceremoniously on a nearby dining table. The wood creaked loudly in protest. “Her family started this whole thing, and now she runs it. If you live here, you kind of end up pitching in to help in some way, whether you end up meaning to or not.”

“You seem like a top notch guy,” Lance said suddenly, squeezing Cordelia to his chest almost defensively. She grumbled reproachfully. “But don’t you think just for one second I’ll back down just because you have a dreamy face. I’ll win Allura’s affections right back if I have to, just watch me!”

“Dreamy?” Shiro said blankly. “I, uh… thank you?”

“Lance!” Pidge scolded. “Sorry. This guy has been in love with Allura since he first set eyes on her.”

“I wouldn’t say _love_ ,” Lance said, suddenly bashful. Pidge snorted.

“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” Shiro said, humor turning the corner of his lips upwards. “I have… no, had. I _had_ a male partner, and my preferences have always been pretty much constant.”

“Oh,” Lance said immediately, sounding mollified. “Well, anyway, I _do_ want to ask you for workout tips. Maybe that’ll get me a little more on Allura’s good side, if I bulked up.” Lance preened as best as he could with a sleeping dragon in his arms.

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Where _is_ Allura anyway? She’d want to say hello.”

“I think she’s out back with Keith,” Hunk said almost absently as he set the pie down right on top of the paper pile. Shiro eyed it as the tower swayed precariously, ready to leap forward and save the delicious smelling pastry at any moment. 

“Keith?” he echoed, distracted by both the pie and the baby dragon. 

“The last member of our little family,” Pidge said cheerfully. “And possibly the quietest.”

“And possibly the best with the dragons!” Hunk added.

“Hey!” 

“Sorry, Lance, but even you have to admit it’s kind of true.”

Lance let out a grumble.

“He’s good with dragons because he’s lived with one for probably the longest,” Pidge said. “He and Red are never apart, and never have been since I’ve known them.”

“Get this,” Lance interjected. “Red, his dragon, isn’t even _red_. I mean, yeah, he used to be. But Red suddenly shed and went and changed colors. Now he’s all black, but Keith didn’t want to change his name. He doesn’t even care about _why_ his dragon changed colors. What kind of name is just ‘Red’ anyway, right?”

“Pretty sure Keith named his dragon when he was just a kid.”

“I’d like to meet them both,” Shiro said amicably. “It’d be nice to see all the faces before I unpack.” He hefted his suitcase up for them all to see, and Pidge’s eyebrows shot upwards into her wild hairline. 

“That’s all you brought?” she asked, looking perplexed. At Shiro’s nod, Pidge shrugged. “Nice. At least your room won’t be cluttered. I can’t say the same for myself.” She turned on her heel with a wave, beckoning Shiro and the others through another hallway that led to a backdoor. 

“They should be right out here,” Hunk said, swinging the door open (this one, thankfully, did not fall off its hinges.) 

Shiro gaped at the array of stables before him stretched out in a single, neat row on an open expanse of land. He saw a couple of dragons lazing out in the clearing, wings unfurled as they took in what little warmth the sun had to offer. 

In the distance, Shiro could just make out a figure standing before a black dragon, whose head had turned upwards at the arrival of Shiro and the other house occupants. Something about the dragon’s eyes triggered Shiro’s sense of deja vu, and he eagerly stepped closer, curious. There was a man astride the dragon’s back, and the expression on his face was tense and serious as he spoke to the woman before him. 

_A hazy smudge of black, drifting in and out of focus, yellow reptilian eyes, and a man with sopping wet dark hair…_

Shiro narrowed his eyes as he quickened his pace, ignoring Lance’s confused grunt as he all but speed walked past. 

The dragon’s rider bent forward to pat the dragon’s--Red, Shiro was sure--neck, and its wings spread wide as the woman stepped back and away to a safe distance. They were leaving. Shiro broke off into a jog, mindless of his new housemates’ queries as he took off. There was something about that man and that dragon--

“And don’t forget to check even the most obscure parts of the mountainside!” the woman called out, her accent thickly posh. “Even in the places you think you wouldn’t find eggs.”

“Will do,” the man called out curtly as Red took to the air, neck already outstretched towards the sky. His eyes drifted past the woman towards Shiro, and his eyes widened. 

“You--”

The man was cut off with a yelp as the dragon launched itself abruptly into the sky, wings outspread and soaring off into the distance at an alarming pace. They were a dot in the skyline in mere minutes.

Shiro could only gape after them, sure that he’d just missed something extremely important.

“Cool, huh?” Lance asked, having finally caught up. In his arms, Cordelia let loose a wide yawn. “The dragon I mean. The guy… not so much.”

“He’s kidding,” the woman cut in, turning to them both with one eyebrow raised. “You’re the new tenant, are you not? I am Allura.” A vaguely waved arm motioned to the sky. “That was Keith.”

In another movement, she turned on her heel, gesturing to the land before them. “And this,” Allura continued proudly, “is your new home. Welcome to Altea, the dragon sanctuary!”  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

“We’re not the only sanctuary here, though,” Hunk said through a mouthful of pie. 

Shiro digested this new piece of information along with his own slice, chewing solemnly as he looked around the table. “I’m not surprised,” he said as soon as he’d swallowed his own bite of the confectionary. “After all, this _is_ the dragon island.”

“It’s funny how often I’ve heard that. It is as if people don’t even know the island’s real name anymore,” Allura said, sounding amused. “But yes, you have a point. There are quite a number of farmlands and homes where people care for dragons, and work alongside them. But I’m proud to say that our own sanctuary was one of the first!”

“It’s been a long established place, run by Allura’s family for forever,” Pidge said, setting a tray with steaming cups of coffee down onto the table. Shiro gladly set aside his fork to reach for one, welcoming the heat that seeped into his numbed fingers. This island was _cold_.

“That’s amazing,” Shiro said sincerely. He kept his eyes fixed on his coffee cup, watching the cream swirl into the drink. “And, um… that man, on the dragon. Has he been here as long as you guys as well?”

“Keith?” Lance handed Cordelia over to Allura, a goofy smile on his face as he watched the woman cradle the dragon whelp carefully. “Yeah, he’s been here longer than I have. Asked Allura if he could work in exchange for lodging. I hate to admit it, but Keith’s a real dragon whisperer.” He paused. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

Shiro thought back to the dark haired man and the way he had stared at Shiro, recognition plain in his eyes. Something somersaulted in his stomach, and Shiro set down his coffee cup, and winced when it clattered against the edge of his plate. “Interesting,” Shiro coughed out, more to cover up his nerves than to say anything at all. 

“Yup. We’ve all pretty much been on the island forever, except for Pidge. She and her family came here for research, right?”

“That’s right,” Pidge said enthusiastically. “They live on the other side of the island, but I _had_ to stay here. Seeing the dragons this close was the opportunity of a lifetime! This entire island is filled with a plethora of flora and fauna which are very rare in other parts of the world. _And_ this is the only place where dragons can be seen so openly!”

“Not to mention the dragon races,” Allura added, primly sipping from her own cup. “If I may ask, is that the reason why you’re here? Are you perhaps a dragon rider?”

“No,” Shiro said hastily, “but that would have been wonderful. No, I’ve just been coming to this island for years now. And everytime I’m here, I feel more collected, more settled. I guess it was just a matter of time before I chose to move here permanently, so it was nice to find your ad about an opening.”

“Oh, we’ve had that out for ages,” Hunk said. “You’re probably the first person from the mainland in _ages_ to even take our lodgings seriously. People like to see the dragons from afar, then leave. We aren’t exactly a cute little beach town.”

Shiro smiled at that. The island, teeming with its scaly creatures above and below the gloomy waters beyond rocky shores, was not the best tourist destination. 

“The first time I came here was with my grandfather. It only took watching one race to get me hooked, and now I try to come as often as I can.” Shiro thumbed his fork thoughtfully. “My partner was here with me when I lost my arm. He’s never had much liking for this island before and after that incident, and it seemed like just a matter of time before we broke things off. Adam never really liked the idea of staying here permanently.”

The table was quiet, with only the clink of cutlery echoing within the chilly room. Lance squirmed.

“So you lost your arm _here?_ ” Lance asked, and yelped when Allura pinched his ear. 

“Honestly!”

“It’s alright!” Shiro said quickly, raising his hand placatingly. “I wouldn’t have mentioned it if it made me uncomfortable. Yes, I was here on one of my visits when I went missing in one of the island’s denser parts. I wanted to see more of it, but when I went too far--”

The door clattered open, and the clunk of heavy wood hitting the floor caused Shiro to bite down on his words out of surprise. He turned, and was momentarily rendered speechless for an entirely different reason. 

Keith stood in the doorway, looking sheepish at having dislodged the front door from its rickety hinges.

“Sorry--”

“Are you _not_ a permanent tenant here? You would think you would remember that the door is broken!” Allura chided, exasperatedly hurrying over to the doorway. Before Shiro could even think to offer help, the woman bent down and picked up the wooden door like it was nothing, before simply propping it up against the wall. Shiro’s jaw dropped.

“She’s strong like that,” Lance whispered to Shiro, sounding giddy.

“I will waive half of next month’s rent for who ever fixes this first,” Allura said.

“Oh, me! I can fix it without you having to waive anything!”

“Lance, you don’t even know _how_ to fix it.”

The sounds of squabbling faded into the background as Shiro took all of Keith in, from the dark red jacket, down to water stained boots. He looked sharp, all angles and hard edges, with a faraway look in his eyes that told Shiro his mind was still probably somewhere in the clouds, on the back of a dragon. Keith caught him looking, and a muted version of the look from earlier crawled its way onto his face.

“You’re…” 

“Shiro.” Shiro stood quickly, and the scrape of the chair legs against the wood of the floor made them both flinch. “I’m Shiro.”

Now Keith looked confused. “I… I know?”

“Oh, right.” Shiro laughed, feeling off center and uncharacteristically nervous. “You must have heard that a new tenant would be coming in. It’s a nice place you’ve all got.”

He made a vague motion towards the room, and Keith followed his hand towards the broken door and rickety table. It was that moment that Pidge’s papers chose to tip over, wobbling ominously for one long second before falling in waves to the floor.

“Oh, damn it.” Pidge stuffed the rest of her pie into her mouth before unceremoniously scooping up her work. Allura let out a long, aggrieved sigh.

“Thank you,” Keith said, smoothly taking it all in stride. “But that’s not what I meant--”

“Keith! You should take Shiro dragon riding soon,” Hunk interjected enthusiastically. “He’s been a fan of racing for a long time.” He turned to Shiro. “Do you recognize Keith from the races? He’s almost always in the top five.”

Shiro turned to Keith, and the latter stared back, looking almost expectant. Thinking back to Keith’s hunched form over a sinuous black dragon as they flew off into the distance made something click in Shiro’s mind. He slammed a fist into an open palm in an eager ‘a-ha!’ motion.

“Of course! That’s where I placed you. Seriously, I thought I was having deja vu when I first saw you, but that explains everything. I’m sure I’ve seen your Red up in those clouds. There don’t seem to be many black dragons in the races, oddly enough. But I’m sure I’ve seen at least one.”

For some reason, Shiro’s answer seemed to have displeased Keith. The man looked at him with an almost crestfallen expression, and Shiro resisted the urge to verbally backpedal. Was what he had said so wrong?

“A majority of the dragons here are vibrantly colored,” Pidge explained. “It’s one of the things my family and I are interested in researching. You would think their colors would be more muted, perhaps, I would have loved to see Red’s original color, but I think he looks cool the way he is now, too.”

“If you were here for one of my earlier races, then you may have seen him with his red coloring,” Keith said. “You may not have noticed him, though. But he shed his scales one year and just… changed color.”

“I don’t think it’s that uncommon,” Pidge said. “But I would have liked to see it happen up close… some of the dragons I’ve seen living in the mountains seem to have gone through the same, but I can never be too sure. They’re a lot wilder than the ones living within civilization, so it’s a lot riskier to get close.” She glanced over at Keith. “Red has lived with humans his entire life, so I can’t figure out what might have triggered the color change.”

Keith shrugged, eyes still on Shiro. “Do you want to see him?” he asked. Man, the guy’s eyes were intense. Shiro found himself fidgeting under his gaze. 

“Sure,” he said anyway, sincerely interested in seeing one of the island’s dragons up close. 

“Don’t stay out too long, so we can get Shiro situated in his room,” Allura said as she gave Cordelia back to Lance in order to help Hunk gather the plates. Pidge scurried around them, snatching up stray papers before they could be trampled. “It’s getting rather late, too.”

“No problem,” Keith replied, striding over to the back door. He beckoned Shiro over with a tilt of his head, and Shiro followed immediately, excited about seeing a dragon _and_ having the opportunity to speak with Keith alone.

Keith seemed like an interesting guy. That was what drew Shiro to him, really. Just plain old curiosity. 

“Each one of us has a dragon that we adopted, and who adopted us back, in a way,” Keith said as soon as Shiro caught up. He held the door open for the other man before letting it swing shut with a note of finality. “But I’m the only one who races.”

“Do you think I’d be able to adopt a dragon, then?” Shiro asked, unable to hide his excitement at the idea. Keith smiled.

“I wouldn’t doubt it. You seem like a nice guy, so I’d bet the next batch we end up rescuing might have a dragon whelp who’d take a shining to you.”

Keith’s voice was a little rough, almost growly sounding, even when he was speaking gently. Shiro decided immediately that he liked it, immensely. “So you guys rescue injured dragons?”

“Not just those,” Keith said. “This is a harsh island. It helps that we have people like Pidge to monitor the dragon population now, but for a long time, roosts would occasionally turn up abandoned. I’d go back to it every now and then for a while to see if either of the parents would turn up, but if neither of them did, then I’d bring them back to Allura.” 

Keith’s face clouded over. “One time I waited too long and a couple of hatchlings starved to death.”

“I’m sorry,” Shiro said, stricken. 

“Well, it was trial and error for a little while,” Keith replied. He squinted off into the approaching gloom. “Where’s my lizard at now?”

There was a barking noise, and a big collie bounded out of one of the stables, making a beeline for Keith. Several scaled heads poked out curiously, tracking the dog’s departure. Keith laughed when the dog sniffed at his hand before running circles around Shiro, curious about the new smell of stranger. 

“That’s not Red, obviously, but now I can introduce you to Kosmo.” Keith reached to pat the dog, who ducked under his hand to roll onto its back, clearly demanding a belly rub. Shiro laughed. 

“A blue merle?”

“Yup. If we’ve adopted the dragons, then Kosmo adopted us all,” Keith said wryly. “I’d say he’s the true head of the house here.”

Kosmo barked as if in affirmation, rolling back onto all fours and bounding back towards the stables. He let loose a whine of greeting on his way there, and Shiro was quick to see why. A black dragon lumbered out from behind one of the buildings, eyes slitted as if freshly woken from sleep.

The dragon was incredible--Shiro had never seen one in close quarters before now, but the shine of its scales in the fading light convinced Shiro that this was just about the most beautiful dragon he had ever seen. 

It was smaller than he had expected, though, but a glance at the stables behind it confirmed that many of the dragons (from what he could see) were roughly the same in stature. Red was larger than the average horse, and even though they were folded, Shiro could already tell the dragon held an impressive wingspan. 

The island’s dragons may not have matched the grandeur and the gargantuan size of the dragons in children’s fairy tales, but as Red turned a speculative eye on him, Shiro decided that fairytales were much too overrated. 

Keith nudged Shiro forward, and when Shiro turned to the former, he found the most open expression he’d seen on Keith’s face since they’d met. It was almost as if the sight of the dragon released whatever tension Keith had had coiled within his muscles, and he jogged over to the scaly beast, waving Shiro over with an almost childlike enthusiasm. 

“This is Red,” Keith said, slowing enough to walk backwards and gauge the reaction on Shiro’s face. 

Whatever he saw in Shiro’s expression seemed to please him, and something fluttered in Shiro’s chest when a slow, hesitant smile curled the corners of Keith’s mouth in response.

Immediately, a large, scaly head monopolized Shiro’s attention as the black dragon ambled over to him, head bent curiously to sniff at Shiro’s forelock. Shiro grinned, delighted. 

“Hello, there,” he said, reaching up with a cautious hand. Red glanced at it before letting out a sulfurous smelling huff of air and nudging at Shiro’s arm with his snout. The scales were warm to the touch, and smooth enough that Shiro could run his hands across with very little resistance. He tapped curiously at the ridge of one scale, and Red turned his head as if to accommodate him further. 

Shiro looked at Keith to find him looking back, watching both Shiro and Red, ready to step in at any moment. 

“Red’s pretty good with people,” Keith explained, placing a hand on one of Red’s spines. The dragon turned away from Shiro’s hand to nose at his rider, and Keith amiably scratched the top of his head. “But you shouldn’t try this with any other dragons without one of us present. Least of all with a wild dragon.” Keith looked worriedly at Shiro, as if imagining the man lacked the self-preservation to prevent himself from traipsing right up to a carnivorous beast without proper supervision. 

Shiro would have been offended if he hadn’t found Keith’s concerned attention slightly flattering. “I guess I’ll just always have to stick close to you if I want to make friends with a dragon then,” Shiro said tentatively, resolutely refusing to even glance at Keith. 

The other man made an awkward sounding coughing noise that had Shiro turning to look at him, but Keith seemed composed when he met Shiro’s eyes. “I guess you will,” Keith said. He let another one of his half smiles grace his face before turning away and walking to Red’s flank. Shiro followed, feeling a mildly happy sort of heat crawl up the back of his neck.

As he went, part of Shiro consciously marked the way Red’s eyes tracked him as he left. The dragon’s neck curved around them, and he blinked slowly as Keith lightly tapped his side.

“We have different kinds of saddles, but for anything other than racing, I try to use the lighter types. Red hates wearing them.” This last part was added with a weary sort of fondness. Shiro could only imagine the struggle of trying to break Red into wearing a saddle in the first place. 

“He can only carry a single person at a time,” Keith continued, and Shiro turned to see Keith looking at him again, carefully. “But Red has carried me and one other person for a very short distance.”

There was a short silence, and Shiro worked his mouth, trying to figure out the right answer to whatever question Keith’s eyes were asking. “That’s… amazing. Who was the other lucky rider?”

Wrong. Shiro felt something curdle in the air between them as Keith glanced back at Red, a sigh leaving his lips. 

“Just someone I’d met for the first time,” Keith replied. “Who knows, though. Red gets stronger every year, so I could probably take you on a flight that’s a little longer. Still short distance, though.”

“I’d love that,” Shiro said sincerely, and was gratified to see the pleased look return to Keith’s face. 

“I’m glad,” Keith said. “Most of the island visitors don’t usually want to even be near one of the dragons, even if they like to watch them fly and bet on their odds.”

“Well, they’re missing out,” Shiro said solemnly. “I’ve wanted to meet one of the dragons up close since I saw my first race.” Red gently headbutted his shoulder then, and Shiro leaned into the contact, fully aware of the maw of teeth just inches from his face. “And today’s my lucky day.”

“Mine too.”

“Hm?” Shiro blinked questioningly, straining to catch Keith’s words in the sudden breeze. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” Keith said, louder this time. He flicked one of Red’s horns, and the dragon snapped at him with no intention to hurt. “Let’s head back inside. I can help you set up before dinner, if you want.”

Shiro stared at him, taking in the way Keith’s hand lay flat against Red’s side, gently passing over the scales there. The fading light cast shadows over Keith’s face, bringing the sharp angles of his face into stark contrast. Shiro found that it was a sight he could get used to, and quickly. 

“Sure,” Shiro replied easily. “You know, I’m pretty sure I’ll like living here. Every visit felt like a return home. I guess it was just a matter of time before I put roots down here permanently.”

Keith smiled, a full curving of his lips that Shiro was beginning to realize was as rare as a blue moon. 

“Well, then,” Keith said, giving Red’s side one final pat. “Welcome home.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
